Many of you know that my TBM mom passed away recently, and that there has been a huge fuss by my siblings about her will and trust.

My husband is a nevermo, and he thinks mormons are fruit cakes after all his experience with my family. Years ago, we helped my parents move, and as he carried out case after case of tuna, he kept giving me looks like "is this for real?!?!" When we got to the wheat barrels, he came out and asked my dad what all of this was for?!?

Anyway, last night in the grocery store, my husband, out of the blue, pipes up and says "I wonder who inherited your mom's 13 cases of ramen noodles?" I laughed so hard that I caused a scene in the grocery store because I couldn't walk upright.

Then he kept saying he was sorry for making a comment like that in the grocery store, which made me laugh all the harder.

When we moved my parents out of their house 20 years ago, they still had food storage from the 1970s. Never Ever used it!

Give me all your food storage stories!

applesauce

Inheriting a parent's food storage in many cases would be like drawing the short straw. lol

The odds are that more mormon food storage has gone into landfills than hungry stomachs.

The prophets seem to have done, what?, given fifty years of bad advice? I suppose ghawd was just testing them and the sheep.

Imagine your parents losing their house in foreclosure due to a bad investment in a Mormon business into which they threw their entire nest egg. Then imagine moving them from the house in which you were raised, and finding they had created a huge and illegal hole in the cement slab and carefully stored a few decade's worth of expired food storage in the hole. Imagine moving it all out and having to dispose of it because it was probably inedible, and because there was no longer any option for your parents to store it in their reduced circumstances. Imagine your parents still being active in church.

Mormonism makes me want to gouge out my own eyes with a dull instrument.

That's so funny! A belly laugh sounds like just what you needed.

No good food storage items here to share. Our family pediatrician who also lived in my ward when I was a child had a house with 3-4 stories beneath the ground. The concrete walls were fallout proof thick, and he and his family stored their food storage down there in the event of a nuclear attack.

He was a good man. It wasn't the Cold War that got him though. He drowned in an ice fishing accident from falling through the hole and couldn't find his way out. He left a beautiful wife and a large family. I felt so bad for them, it still bothers me.

:(

Once I cut my finger while cooking, disappeared into the bathroom to get the bleeding to stop, and bandage it up. No big deal.

A week later, my son brought home a bunch of food storage that he had been given--about 40 boxes of cake mix.

I opened one to find it was undulating with worms! I couldn't help screaming! Everybody came running.

My son said, "You cut your finger, and nobody knows it, but you see worms and you start screaming!"

We had a great laugh, and those cake mixes went to the dump!
No way on earth I could use a cake mix now!

I would like to say my aunt was into food storage but that wouldn't be right. She saved everything. Something to do with being raised in the depression. When she died, we hauled several five-gallon green cans of "wheat" out of her basement. When we opened them, weevils had eaten all of it and the only thing left were the husks.

As I said, she saved everything. We got to her fruit room. There were bottles of mince meat that she had put up that was decades old and had spoiled, store-bought cans of stuff that the cans were so bulged we were afraid to move them, orange peels in a five-gallon bucket, milk in the fridge that had expired years earlier. She was mentally sick.

On the plus side, we found shelves of magazines, LDS magazines of course, dating back decades. These were collector items and her children sold them for quite a bit of money.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2016 10:56AM by Now a Gentile.

My mom went whole-hog (or should I say whole-grain?) for the wheat storage/use mormon nuttiness about 30 years ago. She had barrels and barrels of raw wheat stored in her garage, and she faithfully rotated through it by using one barrel at a time. Everything was whole wheat -- daily baked bread, with freshly-ground wheat. Freshly-ground whole wheat pancakes for breakfast, or cracked wheat hot cereal. There wasn't a meal that didn't have *something* from her wheat barrels in it.

Although one or two things were tasty, mostly I couldn't stand the stuff. It was like eating cardboard. Fortunately, I only had to eat it when I visited, I can't imagine doing that every day.

About 5 years ago, she was diagnosed with Celiac disease -- an autoimmune disorder where the body reacts badly to the gluten (and possibly other substances) in wheat, and which results in chronic inflammation of the intestines. First thing to do for treatment? Stop eating wheat.

My mom came for a visit shortly after her diagnosis, and we talked about it. When I asked her if it was hard for her to give up wheat, given her 25-year daily routine of wheat, wheat, and more wheat...and what she'd done with her dozens of barrels of the stuff...? And how come she got Celiac disease, when nobody else in our family (even extended family) had it?

She got quiet for a minute. Then said the doctor had told her that the medical consensus is that there's a genetic predisposition to the disorder, but that it doesn't "turn on" in most people with the genetic predisposition. And that one of the things that appears to turn it on is...eating far more wheat than is generally recommended for a healthy diet. Then she got quiet again.

"So," I said, "your wheat food storage and 'healthy' eating of so much wheat may have *caused* this?"

"Maybe," she said.

I struggled to avoid laughing, it was my mom and I felt bad for her. But I could tell that she felt "let down" by the mormon culture of worshiping their grand store of raw wheat, and by what she had been told by hundreds of mormons was a preferred, healthy, WoW-friendly way of eating. That doing so may very well have caused her sickness.

"What did you do with your barrels," I asked, "did you give them to somebody else?"

"We threw it all away," she said.

We had to eat boiled whole wheat for breakfast with molasses on it just to eat up the food storage.

My hens are happy eating our long-expired food storage. They really like the bulgur.
Turn old inedibles into fresh eggs.

Maybe you could make beer?

Beats eating it.

I've seen my case of excessive food storage gone bad as well...

However...

Mormons aside, it is a good idea to have *some* food put away.

Where we live, we get ice storms once every few years, and one year we got it so bad that we couldn't leave the house for over a week.

We got over an inch of ice, plus strong winds that turned all the trees into toothpicks, and knocked out power to everyone.

It didn't matter if we *could* go somewhere, all the stores were closed.

No electricity, no heat... water froze.. and no food...

We rationed.. starved... but survived.

I vowed always to have something stored away... I was taught a real lesson in reality right there...

A few weeks minimum of food and water... 30 days if you wanna go crazy (but you probably wont use it)..

Year supply? Nope. NEVER heard of anyone EVER using it (other than donating it to a cause)

stuckforever Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mormons aside, it is a good idea to have *some*
> food put away.

Sure, that's only prudent. Same for here, where we have earthquakes.
But enough canned/packaged food for a week or two is usually plenty. And rotate through it regularly.

When I think of the tens of thousands of $$ my mom wasted on wheat, storage bins, mills, etc., only to have it make her sick, it just breaks my heart. And makes me laugh at the ridiculousness.

I agree with having a little extra for when the weather shuts things down. Living in eastern North Carolina, we have seen our fair share of hurricanes and snow storms that have brought the area to a screeching stop and needed non-perishables to survive a few days of no electric for cooking or to operate a store but hell if I am going to take up any extra room or use any extra money for food that may never get eaten.

I don't think they even talk about food storage in conference anymore, do they?

I remember growing up, my mother who is a HUGE believer in food storage,would have a delivery of all the usual food storage suspects. She did rotate alot of the stuff through the kitchen though so it didn't go bad, except the twenty year old wheat.

I had a neighbor that built a storage facility for his storage.

I remember hearing that in addition to the end of the world, there could be a "trucker's strike" that would disrupt the food supply. As if "truckers" are that organized.

A 72 hour kit is probably not a bad idea though. I am always amazed at the companies around Salt Lake that specialize in food storage.

LOL, WhiskeyTango! Before I started reading the thread, I remembered the rumors of trucker's strikes way back when. The only food storage story I can contribute is that in my family when a grandchild would get married, as a wedding present we would get a box of canned food from their food storage from our grandparents.

I love it when there is a food storage thread. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the Mormon's think that they need all that crap.

My ex-father-in-law was the biggest crazy prepper in the world. He had 2 years worth of Sam Andy dehydrated food in large cans that he'd had to build rooms onto his house in order to store. They moved from California to Utah after they retired and one of my kids who went there to help with the move said that all the kids and grandkids decided they were just going to take all the 20-year-old food storage to the dump without saying anything to him. As it was they had to rent an extra U-haul just to move all his guns and ammo.

He figured it out after they'd disposed of all the food and I guess it was such a bad scene that they had to take him for medical treatment. He was only in his early 70s but his health started going downhilil fast and he died a few months later. I'd heard family members say several times that the move had just been really hard on him physically. I've wondered how much the mental stress of losing his food storage played into it.

I bet the Sam Andy that my parents bought in 1972 is still in their house. We moved that crap all over the country. applesauce

The door was hidden behind a false wall at the back of a closet. Push the wall hanging with mops and broom and they could be inside a wonderland of rows of shelving full of canned goods and dried foodstuffs.

In another story, my younger sister as a high schooler agreed to live with our older sister for a year or so to help out because big sis had six children under age four. That's right because four of the babies were twins.

Our little sister had to do housework and care for babies and toddlers day and night whenever she wasn't at school or a church activity. She served the food to the family before she was allowed to eat and she often went hungry. So she saved some of her small allowance to buy a can opener she used to open tuna from food storage. Sadly, big sister caught her and had a fit. My darling younger sister had to survive on family left overs after that. It was nearly fifty years ago and I'm still angry at our older sister over this!

Sounds like a lot of people just collected food without thinking they should rotate it. Not very smart.

And to buy stuff that tastes like garbage? Or at least not very appealing to the family? What's the point?

If you're going to spend the money, get the good stuff. Whatever the family enjoys. Otherwise it's just a waste...

My comment may not be very popular but...we had a year supply that I rotated it. I didn't buy the church stuff cause it tastes nasty but bought what my family did and would eat. My husband was unemployed for a significant time and we lived off that. So I agree with previous posters that the barrels of stuff that don't get eaten/rotated is a huge waste but ours worked and was a good thing.

That actually sounds like a common sense use for food storage.

My ex mega tbm wife stored water- hundreds of gallons of it in Blue 55 gallon plastic barrels for the apocalypse that Cleon Skousen, Gordon B Hinckley, Howard Ruff and Glenn Beck predicted over the years.

wtf?


We lived next to a running spring that has run for thousands of years.

In our divorce I made sure she got the multitude of blue plastic barrels full of pond water (by now).

Thanks for all the laughs. I needed that. Food storage is a real sore point for me. We had tons of food powders from Salt Lake that would never be used, and at the same time, my father put a lock on the food cupboard in the kitchen to reduce our consumption.

I do think it's a good idea to have some food and other supplies, as I do happen to live in earthquake country. The issue is that Mormons take preparedness to the extreme, with storing whole wheat that isn't typically eaten, so it doesn't get rotated enough. The other issue is that if the home is destroyed in a natural disaster, that food is destroyed as well, and wheat that gets wet is no longer edible because it gets moldy, and small animals like weevils can get into it.

A few hours ago as I was reading this thread the doorbell rang. It was a lady from the church, who came to us because she didn't know what else to do.

She is 92 years old. Like most of the people in our South American barrio she is very poor. Her son, who lives with her, is sick and hasn't worked for months. They are out of food. The electric company came by this morning and said if they didn't pay their bill within 24 hours they'll lose their power. Was there anything that we could do?

Being relatively well-off, my wife and I frequently feed our extended family and neighbors, Mormon or not. Lately we are doing a lot of it. We buy rice in 10-kg bags and go through it in a few days. Same with potatoes, corn, milk, eggs...

We invited our elderly neighbor in, served her breakfast, loaded up a "doggy bag" for her and her son, and afterwards walked her back to the bus stop. Then we went and paid her electricity bill ($10.54). We just got back from doing so.

One of the pillars of Mormonism is that we are to put our own well-being, spiritual as well as physical, above that of others. It's every man/woman for him/herself. Maybe I'll see you in the Celestial Kingdom; maybe I won't. If I don't, don't blame me. That's what Mormonism teaches. Hoarding food is a prime example of that mentality. Pack it away now, brothers and sisters, even though there are people in this world who need it NOW. Pack it away for YOUR rainy day, because you're a SAINT, right?

It's too bad I don't believe in Hell, because I'd love to entertain the idea that all those so-called leaders of TSCC, those frauds, those truly evil human beings whose racism, sexism, and destruction of families brings them great wealth, pride, and power, are rotting in Hell at this very moment and for eternity.

Now this really made my day and I wish that there were more people out there like you. I am glad that you are in a position to help others.

Thank you, kativicky!

You showed us up again.

GBL-

If you were mormon and your bishop found out you did this, you may get scolded for it. The church insists that members give money to the church who will then decide who will or won't get anything.

I experienced this when I bought airfare for someone. My bishop at the time, came unglued. He was furious I made this decision with my own money and didn't let him and the church be the middle man.

BIG kerchunk as that item landed on the shelf.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2016 12:17AM by madalice.

Thanks for all the responses!

I admit, that because of my "fine mormon upbringing" that food storage is just a habit with me. There have been times when we needed to rely on what I have stored to get us through when the paycheck was small and the bills were big.

An exmo friend of mine told me about a time when cases of canned vegetables went on sale, and of course, with her fine mormon upbringing, she had to purchase several, because she might need 30 cans of green beans someday. It was a knee jerk reaction.

My food storage consists of a full pantry and a full freezer. All food we like and food we will eat. No wheat I usually have enough to get by for a month or so.

It sure is good to have in an emergency, and good to share, and good to rotate, but a real waste if you just buy it and leave it there for time and all eternity! Have a great Friday Everyone!

applesauce

My Brothers and Sisters, the spirit has moved me to stand before you and express myself this day. I too have invested an awful lot of money into food storage only to throw it away at a later date. When my TBM wife passed away a few years ago is when I turned the corner in more ways than one. I hauled 35 5-gallon buckets of various dry goods (beans, rice, wheat, corn meal, etc) to the dump. I emptied 3 55-gallon barrels of fetid water and took the barrels to the dump where a man asked if they leaked and he wanted them.

I threw away boxes and boxes of church magazines & manuals. I threw away cases and cases of bulging cans of stew, chicken, beef, turkey, etc.

When I was a small child, maybe 6, my Dad put a 30 gallon milk can of dry rice under the house and told me that one day that can of rice would save my life. Six decades later that can is still there but is mostly rusted away and the rice is all gone. People say honey never goes bad. Wrong, again my Dad had maybe 8 gallon cans of honey in his storage and when he passed I opened them. All of them were black and smelled horrible. He had canned peaches & cherries dating back 3 decades.

Food storage is a good idea but don't follow the prophets advice, use your own common judgements. Gawd doesn't know crap.

I'm so glad you are able to have a good laugh. Losing a parent has to be the hardest thing. At least your mother is no longer mormon

FOR SALE: VINTAGE 33 year old popcorn, dried milk, macaroni and cheese, rice, and dried pinto beans. Supplies are limited. These are not your currently GMO-free modified foodstuffs, but original item for your consumption from when Ronald Reagan was in the White House. These items will go fast. Seller offers no returns. Please contact BYU Boner at 1-800-FKN-NUTS.

taking the 2 year supply idea even further, my very TBM older sister had a big box sitting in her laundry room full of various pieces of clothing including about 1000 mismatched socks from her large brood of children. I was but a young adult at the time and asked her why she had all that stuff. "my two year supply of clothes. You won't care if your socks match when you don't have clothes to wear." I innocently asked her why she couldn't just wear the clothes that are already in her closets and dressers?

She got a funny look on her face like she had never thought of that. Duh.

Oh no, I hope she didn't have mismatched underwear, too!

Dad was a food hoarder....after he discovered Price Club down in AZ. He and mom would come home from their winter in Mesa with half a truckload of cheese and tuna (the rest of the truck was full of oranges and grapefruit)!!

RB

When I was working for TSCC's volunteer sales force in the town of Kitchener, we stayed in a house that had been split in two. One half had apartments for two companionships, and in the other lived an elderly woman who the missionaries referred to as "Mom". It was traditional for the entire district to have dinner at Mom's place every Monday evening. She served food from her basement storage, some of which was over 20 years old. We employed various schemes to avoid eating it while simultaneously making it disappear as if we had. Like I said, it was traditional to eat at Mom's. It was also traditional to go to Harvey's and get hamburgers afterwards.

My grandma had a basement full. Most was hand canned. When she died, my aunts threw all of it out. What a waste. It could have been enjoyed. Grandma was a good cook.

My mother wasn't really all that hooked on the year's supply idea but she did think that anything canned or frozen would last virtually forever. I once found some canned fruit that had exploded in her pantry. What hadn't exploded I opened and it was black goo. She had saved them from my grandmother's kitchen when grandmother moved to a retirement home. They had to have been at least 60 plus years old.

I've mentioned before on the board that I found a container of Tang that Mom kept for about 40 years and would never allow me to throw out. Finally, behind her back, I opened the thing and it was solid as a concrete brick. It would have been great in her foundation.

Some in-laws kept old sewing patterns because they would make excellent toilet paper.

I don't know how they discovered that.

Did any of you end up with the moth invasion from food-storage hell?
We did.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2016 12:23AM by kathleen.

I lost about $1500 dollars worth of food storage to rot and worms. And that was 1970 dollars!

I like comedian Bill Burr's comment on food storage.
"All your doing is storing your shit for the strongest guy on the block."
If that had happened to us 40 years ago, we could at least have been comforted knowing SOMEONE had benefitted--other than the Food Storage salesman.

My friends food storage is simple.. he has a 9mm handgun and during a famine he will use it to get food from food hoarders.

He is going to find himself significantly outgunned by the fourth house, if not sooner.

I was a strong believer in buying food for my family in bulk, but only food I knew we would eat. I bought a wheat grinder and a bread maker and made delicious bread, cracked wheat for breakfast, etc. I found recipes I knew my kids would eat. One of their favorites was fresh bread (often made with whole wheat and white flour). Another favorite was a couple of cookie recipes that had seven to nine grains that were practically a meal.

I regularly bought 25 to 50 lbs of: powdered milk, rolled oats, honey, flour, sugar, rice,peanut butter, etc. and bought canned goods in cases of 12 to 24 of their favorite foods. I was able to be home and raise our kids so I baked and sewed, and took care of the household. (It was more common in those days.)

I always had food in the cupboard and fed the kids friends also when they came by. It was not uncommon for us to have three to six people over for Sunday dinner. Of course, I keep track and kept it rotated. I knew how to store it to keep it from going bad. When we'd fall on hard times, (lay offs, etc.) we always had food to eat.

Food storage is only a good idea if you store what your family likes to eat and you keep it rotated. Buying in bulk is a huge savings also. (Look at the Big Box Stores today!)

A young man that used to visit and spend time with our kids came by some years later, walked in the house and went straight to the double door cupboard and looked inside and said: Mrs ___ always had the best cupboards!

So many kids often said they didn't have enough food to eat. I was never sure if that was true, or if they were just conning me out of the treats I made for my kids because they were always home made and very nutritious, especially those whose parents both worked and often didn't have time to bake, etc.

Now, it's just me. Initially, I was hard pressed to figure out how to buy and cook for just one! I had to learn to buy much smaller quantities and still have enough on hand if there is a power outage, or a shortage of items, or store closures.

While on the subject of food storage, there is a new trend in coupon shopping that is really quite amazing. Seems a bit obsessive, compulsive to me, but, a lot of people can do a lot of good helping out others!

As a side note: we had huge containers of water that we put at the edge of our huge glass window at the end of the driveway to keep the cars from being driven into the house! Worked too! (Except for that nut that shot it with a pellet gun! We all stood around and watched a huge plate glass window crack into millions of tiny pieces! )



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2016 04:44PM by SusieQ#1.